Provincial wildfire update

Wildfire Update 2: Tuesday, July 7 at 3pm

North Tallcree and Meander River

• The State of Local Emergency for the North Tallcree First Nation has been lifted, allowing 165 residents to return home today.
• Another 118 residents of Meander River who were under a precautionary evacuation returned to their community yesterday.
• The evacuees have been living in High Level since July 2.

Assisting Saskatchewan Evacuees

• Approximately 750 residents of the LaRonge area of Saskatchewan were evacuated to Cold Lake on July 5 due to out of control wildfires.
• The Government of Alberta in conjunction with the community of Cold Lake are collaborating with the Province of Saskatchewan and the Red Cross to facilitate the reception and housing of evacuees.

Wildfire Update

• Work continues to progress on the 5,800 hectare wildfire near North Tallcree First Nation. Firefighters have been able to prevent the fire from entering the community and have used bulldozers to construct a 20 km long fireguard between the wildfire and the community.
• Two wildfires burning closest to the community of Meander River are also now classified as being held, which means that are not expected to grow larger than their predetermined boundaries.
• There are currently 93 wildfires in Alberta, with 37 classified as out of control.
• Firefighters are working hard to address the wildfires across the province, with priority given to the protection of Albertans and their communities.
• More than 1,700 firefighters have been deployed along with helicopters, airtankers, and heavy equipment.
• An additional 50 firefighters from other jurisdictions arrived on Monday, with another 120 firefighters expected to arrive Tuesday and Wednesday.

Since April 1, 2015, Alberta has recorded more than 1,289 fires, which are estimated to have burned more than 370,000 hectares. A total of 1,196 fires have been extinguished, including 84 over the past week.

Backgrounder

Previous wildfire updates

Wildfire Update 1: Saturday, July 4 at 3:45pm

Jul 04, 2015

Slower wind speeds and cooler temperatures over the next few days will assist firefighters combatting a wildfire near the North Tallcree First Nation, located approximately 100 km south of High Level.

The wildfire is still classified as out of control and continues to burn approximately 4 km west of the community. Overnight the fire burned to the south and southwest, away from the community. Approximately 200 North Tall Cree residents were evacuated on July 2 to High Level.

There are currently 121 wildfires in Alberta, with 52 classified as out of control. Other fires that are being monitored closely include a wildfire burning 15 km north of Meander River, where 400 residents are on an evacuation alert and a fire burning 50 km west of High Level that is putting heavy smoke into the community.

The Provincial Forest Fire Centre, Alberta Emergency Management Agency, and Government of Alberta continue to work closely with affected communities.

Firefighters are working hard to address the wildfires across the province, with priority given to the protection of Albertans and their communities.

More than 1,700 firefighters, 180 helicopters, 150 pieces of heavy equipment, and 18 air tankers have been deployed. Another additional 80 firefighters are being brought in from other jurisdictions early next week, followed by between 80 to 100 firefighters later in the week.

Since April 1, 2015, Alberta has recorded more than 1,272 fires, which are estimated to have burned more than 300,000 hectares.

While a temporary fire weather advisory was lifted at noon today due to improving weather conditions, the fire hazard remains high to extreme across the north and central portions of the province.

Assisting Saskatchewan evacuees
The Government of Alberta and the Red Cross are activating a plan to receive up to 5,000 people from the La Ronge area of Saskatchewan who are fleeing wildfires. The first evacuees are expected to arrive in Cold Lake this afternoon.

Related information

• Current wildfire information
• Download the Wildfire app
• Alberta Emergency Alerts

Media inquiries

Shannon Greer
587-594-0132
Press Secretary, Municipal Affairs

Wildfire Information Officer
780-420-1986

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